Who will be our next president?

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Did you seriously vote for yourself (i.e. - spoiled vote)? By the way, how many candidates were actually on the list? I heard that there were around 20.

Kevin.

Kevin,

Actually, it varied by state as to which minor candidates qualified to be included on their ballots.

There were 10 in my state:

Jonathan Allen Independent, Write-In, HeartQuake '08

Charles O. Baldwin Independent, Write-In, Alaskan Independence, Constitution, Constitution Party of Florida, Constitution Party of Illinois, Independent Green, Nebraska, Nominated by Petition, Reform Party of Kansas, U.S. Taxpayers, U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan

Robert L. Barr Independent, Libertarian, Write-In, Nominated by Petition

Thaddaus Hill Write-In

Alan L. Keyes Independent, Write-In, America's Independent Party, American Independent, Unaffiliated

John S. McCain Republican, Conservative Party of New York , Independence Party of New York

Cynthia Ann McKinney Independent, Green Party, Write-In, Green-Rainbow, Mountain Party, Nominated by Petition, Pacific Green, Unaffiliated, Wisconsin Green

Brian P. Moore Independent, Write-In, Liberty Union, Nominated by Petition, Socialist, Socialist Party USA, Unaffiliated

Ralph Nader No Party Affiliation, Independent, Write-In, Natural Law Party, Alaskan Independence, Ecology Party of Florida, New Mexico Independent Party, Nominated by Petition, Nomination by other than Primary, Peace, Populist

Barack H. Obama Democratic, Democratic/Farmer/Labor, Democratic-NPL, Working Families Party of New York

Hi bereft,

I did not expect such extensive information on a list of candidates. Here, there is invariably only three or four names on ballot papers and it's just their names, nothing more. Like, why does it say 'Farmer/Labor' in the entry for Barack?; and what's this about the 'Working Families Party of New York'?

Also, has Ralph Nadar ever done well? I remember hearing some of his ideas and I agree strongly with him. However, an independent will NEVER make it big in America - they simply couldn't launch a big-enough ad-campaign. Independents here, however, regularly get elected.

Kevin

Chucky,

The Farmer-Labor Party merged with the Democratic Party about 60 years ago, but some states continue to carry the full name. The same is true for the Working Families Party -- it is affiliated with the New York Democratic Party.

The other parties are minor players in the political field that is the US.

No, Nader has never done well. He tends to be a little more "independent" than most voters can support. His personality makes him akin to using a porcupine as a loofa.